11/19/2010 @ 2:00PM

In Pictures: The 10 Best Public Colleges In The Western U.S.

The 10 Best Public Colleges In The Western U.S.

Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity annually rank America’s Best Colleges, and they completed their survey this year in August. The list ranks U.S. undergraduate institutions according to the quality of the education they provide, the experiences of their students, the amount of debt students graduate with and how much they achieve. To determine the best schools in the West, we narrowed that list to cover schools located in Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Here are the 10 best public colleges in the Western U.S.